If you mingle in Christian circles for long enough you are destined to confront the topic of “end times”.
Not that it is new phenomenon – in fact it can be found in the urgent pleadings of the newly converted St Paul – but it seems that the subject is currently experiencing a renaissance.
However it isn’t just the religious-minded that are promoting this rebirth – Hollywood has, in fact, sensed the growing interest and has plugged in accordingly.
Recent movies such as 2012, I Am Legend, 28 Weeks Later and The Book of Eli all tap into the public fascination with life after a global apocalypse.
Personally, when it comes to the subject of “end times”, I tend to heed the words of Jesus, “But of that day or that hour no one knows … only the Father” (Mk 13:32).
In other words, don’t fix your eyes on the future and what may or may not occur, but rather, focus your time and energy on the present and what you can do now.
Ironically, though, it was while I was viewing one of these ‘life after’ movies that I came to the realisation that we are already living in an apocalyptic climate.
In the movie The Road, a father finds himself in the aftermath of a global calamity.
He is desperately trekking across a decimated landscape in an attempt to protect his young son from the marauding cannibalistic mobs that have formed.
The father, himself slowly dying, is forced to teach his son some difficult lessons in an attempt to prepare him for life on his own.
With the realisation that he cannot preserve the innocence of his child in an environment so physically and morally ravaged, he sets about teaching him how to exist within this world without becoming prey to its evil. He tells him to look for those people who have “the fire burning within them”, as these will be the ones who will lead him along the path to safety.
These are the ones who will not use and abuse him for their own gain, but will recognise and understand his true worth.
It made me think of our world today.
Spiritually, we are already in these times. Our children exist in an environment in which the predators that seek to consume them for their own selfish gain are well and truly entrenched.
Tragically though, unlike the blatantly ugly, dark and terrifying backdrop of The Road our children are being spiritually cannibalised by stealth.
The forces at work today are subtle and attractive. They promote attitudes and activities that, without the guidance of a loving and protective parent, are corroding the truth that God has planted in the hearts of our children.
We are spending less time with them and increasingly allowing access to influences that are subtly enticing them into a spiritual wasteland.
The father in The Road clearly recognised the life-threatening dangers that lurked around every corner and his sole mission became protecting his son from this evil.
But he also understood that he needed to equip his son with the wisdom to recognise these dangers for himself, because one day he would have to make his own decisions.
His love became more deeply sacrificial as he was able to step beyond his own needs and fear.
He did not allow himself be imprisoned by helplessness, but rather chose to empower his son to become the man that he wanted him to be.
This meant that he had to make difficult decisions that were not always going to please his son – but they were going to keep the light burning within him, even when the father was gone.
It is a tale of heroism. It is a message for all parents today.